▪ I. pattle, pettle, n. Sc. and north. dial.
(ˈpæt(ə)l, ˈpɛt(ə)l)
Also 4–5 pat(t)yl, 5 patil(l, 6 patle.
[Origin obscure; app. another form of paddle n.1, with which it partly coincides in meaning.]
1. A tool like a small spade with a long handle, used chiefly to remove the earth adhering to a plough; a plough-staff.
| α c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxv. (Julian) 130 A housband a-gane oure lay Telyt his land one sownday;..Þe patyl his hand clewyt to, Þe muldebred quhen he suld mvk [rime tuk]. 1404 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 399, ij plogh pattyl. c 1470 Henryson Mor. Fab. x. (Fox & Wolf) ii, The husband..cryit, and caist his patill and grit stanis. 1570 Satir. Poems Reform. xii. 72 Hirdmen sall hunt ȝow vpthrow Garranis gyll, Castand thair Patlis, and lat the pleuch stand still. 1785 Burns To Mouse i, I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee Wi' murd'ring pattle. 1820 Scott Monast. xi, If he liked a book ill, he liked a plough or a pattle worse. |
| β 1786 Burns Earnest Cry & Prayer xv, Or faith! I'll wad my new pleugh-pettle, Ye'll see't or lang. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet Let. x, A hand that never held pleugh-stilt or pettle. 1858 M. Porteous Souter Johnny 24 Pettle or plough staff, with which he cleaned the ploughshare. |
† 2. = padle n. Obs. (See pattle v.)
3. Comb., as pattle-shaft, -tree, the shaft or handle of a pattle.
| 1868 D. Gorrie Summers & Winters in Orkneys viii. (1871) 298 Using a pattle-tree to clear away clods. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xv. (1873) 92 Nae the vera pattle shafts but was broken. |
▪ II. † ˈpattle, v. Sc. Obs. rare.
[f. prec. 2.]
trans. To scrape with a hoe (Sc. padle) or mud-scraper.
| 1553–4 Burgh Rec. Edin. (Rec. Soc.) II. 351 Item..for ane patill to patil the kirk with. 1554–5 Ibid. 296 To Thomas Hallis servand for paittelling and deichting of all the steppis of the turngryss of the tolbuith, viij d. |